Booby trap for mines



. 9, W58 A.-DlELS BOOBY TRAP FOR MINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 18, 1956 INVENTOR.

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, 2,863,391 Patented Dec. 9, 1958 BOOBY TRAP FOR MINES Albert Diels, Brussels-Uccle, Belgium, assignor to Poudreries Reunies de Bclgique S. A., Brussels, Belgium, a corporation of Belgium Application May 18, 1956, Serial No. 585,745 Claims priority, application Germany May 20, 1955 2 Claims. (Cl. 102-8) The present invention relates to land mines, such as anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, and more particularly to booby traps for such mines to prevent their safe removal.

It is known to booby-trap mines by connecting them with a wire to a fixed object, pulling of the wire by removal of the mine causing ignition thereof. Such wire booby traps can be readily seen, however, and may therefore be disconnected to deactivate the mine. It is difficult, if not impossible, to camouflage the wire connectlons.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a well hidden and dependably functioning booby trap for mines which will cause the mine to be ignited upon lifting thereof.

In accordance with the invention, the booby trap for the mine comprises a fuse mounted in the bottom of the mine, a release means for the fuse, and at least one outwardly pivotable member engaging the release means in locked position and releasing said means to ignite the fuse when the member is pivoted outwardly upon lifting of the mine. i

It is essential for the proper functioning of the fuse that the release means move vertically to release the fuse actuating means in a horizontal direction. Any fuse structure meeting this requirement may be used for the booby trap of the invention. Fuses of the type disclosed in my copending applications Serial No. 482,593, filed January 18, 1955, now abandoned, and entitled, Fuze, and Serial No. 585,846, filed on even date, and entitled, Percussion Fuse for Land Mines, now Patent No. 2,848,949, have been. found to be particularly advantageous.

Application Serial No. 482,593 discloses a magnetically non-reactive fuse for land mines and the like explosive charges, which fuse comprises a fuse cap, a cover plate provided in said fuse cap, said cover plate breaking off said fuse cap when exposed to a predetermined external pressure, a hook-like extension attached to said cover plate and, on breaking of said cover plate, moving together with said cover plate in downward direction, a firing-pin spring provided and firmly attached to the side wall of said fuse cap, said firing-pin spring made of resilient material and, in cocked position, being held and locked by said hook-like extension, said hook-like extension, on downward movement, releasing said firingpin spring, a detonator charge arranged in said fuse cap, and a primer pellet attached to said detonator charge and positioned in the path of the released firing-pin spring so as to be struck by the firing pin of the released spring, said fuse being attached to an explosive charge.

Application Serial No. 585,846 discloses a non-magnetic fuse for igniting an explosive charge, which fuse comprises, for instance, a casing, a primer charge mounted in said casing, a pair of non-magnetic springs each carrying a striker mounted in said casing for horizontal movement adjacent the primer charge, vertically movable spring retaining means for holding the springs in cocked position out of contact with the primer charge in a normal, upper position of the retaining means, said retaining means including a pressure member slidably mounted in the casing and an annular skirt integral with the pressure member, said skirt having a pair of side windows positioned above the primer charge in said upper position of the pressure member and permitting propulsion of the strikers therethrough and into contact with the primer charge in a depressed position of the pressure member, and a frangible pin for maintaining the pressure member in said upper position unless sufiicient pressure is applied thereto to break the pin.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be more fully explained in the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the booby trap device;

Fig. 2 is a section along line IIII of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of an anti-tank mine incorporating the booby trap device of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown a casing 10 carrying at its bottom two superposed, interdigitan ing plates 1, 1 hingedly mounted at respective pivots 1a and 10 for outward pivotal movement in the direction of the arrows 9 and 9'. The plates are secured against pivoting by a safety device including a bolt 12 engaging the plate 1 with its head 11, the bolt being mounted in transverse bores in plates 1 and 1. An annular wedge member 13 is positioned on the free end of the bolt whereby the plates 1 and 1' are wedged be tween bolt head 11 and member 13 when the cotter pin 2 is positioned in an oblique diametrical bore in bolt 12 and engaged with member 13. After the mine with the hobby trap is laid in position, pin 2 is withdrawn by pulling cord 2a attached thereto, thus making the booby trap operative.

Cup-shaped member 3 is vertically slidably mounted in casing 10. The cup-shaped member has a spring seat 3a to position coil spring 14 in the member, the spring being biased to press the member outwardly against the pivotable plates. Cover 10a of the casing is provided with an inwardly projecting dome member 15 which serves as a bearing for the cup-shaped member and in whose interior there is arranged the primer charge 5.

Strikers 4 a nd 4' are formed by the ends of tension springs pivoted to plate 16 at 7 and 7', respectively. The plate is bolted to cover 1011 at 17, 17 and a compression spring 18 maintains the tension spring in horizontal position. Detonator 6 is arranged in detonator cap 19 threadedly mounted on a threaded socket 20 extending outwardly from cover 10a. A protective cap 21 is threadedly mounted on the detonator cap.

The booby trap operates as follows:

When the pin 2 is removed and a mine incorporating the booby trap is lifted up for removal, plates 1, 1' will pivot outwardly, causing retaining ring 3 to move downwardly under the pressure of spring 14. The cupshaped member 3 is provided with side windows 8 and when these side windows are in a plane with strikers 4, 4 and primer 5, the strikers will be propelled through the windows against the primer, igniting the same and detonator 6.

Obviously, the device could be constructed with a single pivotable plate instead of two such plates, as shown.

Fig. 3 shows the booby trap mounted in an anti-tank mine. The mine comprises a main explosive charge body 22 enveloped in a protective layer 23 which protects the explosive against humic acids. The main extion body 24 provided with a fuse 25. A mine of the type illustrated is fully described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 585,870, filed on even date and entitled Land 'Mines, but it is obvious that any other type of mine may" be used in'combination with the booby't'r'ap of the present invention.

As shown, pressure plate 26 with actuating protrusion 26a is resiliently mounted on support frame 27 by means of flexible ring 28. The support frame is positioned on top of the main explosive charge body by means of guide rim 22:21 When a load is applied to pressure plate 26, it will be pressed inwardly against the fuse release plug 250, causing .the mine to explode.

Mounted in the bottom of the main explosive' charge body is the booby trap. of Fig. 1. After the mine is placed in position and pin 2 is removed, detonator 6 will ignite the main explosive when the mine is lifted up, or when the bottom support for pivotable plates 1, 1' is otherwise removed.

It is important for the proper functioning of the device to use an impact ignition requiring only the release of the strikers which, of course, can be obtained with much smaller pressures than can be had with other'types of ignition systems. This will assure quite sensitive response of the booby trap under pressures of, for instance, 2 to 2 /2 kg.

All the parts of the booby trap and the mine are preferably made of non-magnetic material.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated, many variations and modificatio-ns thereof may occur to the skilled in the art without departing from its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Ignition means for the main explosive charge of a land mine, comprising a fuse mounted in the bottom of the explosive charge, said fuse including a primer charge, a spring-controlled striker means mounted for horizontal movement adjacent the primer, a retaining member for holding the spring-controlled striker means in cocked position out of contact with theprimer in a normal, upper position of the retaining member, the retaining mem ber being vertically movably mounted below the explosive charge and having aperture means positioned above r 4 the primer in said upper position, biasing means for urging the retaining member downwardly, at least one member pivotably mounted" on said bottom in engagement with said retaining member to secure it in said upper position, and removable means for securing the pivotable member in engagement with the retaining member, removal of said removable means enabling downward swinging of the pivotable member and concomitant downward movement of the retaining member whereby the aperture means permits propulsion of the striker means therethrough into contact with the primer. 2. A booby trap for attachment to the bottom of a land mine, comprising a casing having a bottom and a top wall, two superposed retaining plates, hinge means for mounting the retaining plates on the bottom wall of the casing for downward and outward movement of the plates, removable securing means for holding the plates against pivotal movement, a retaining member downwardly 'slidable through an opening in said bottom wall and engaged by one of said plates, biasing means urging the retaining member downwardly against said plates, a primer arranged in said casing, the retaining member having aperture means positioned above the primer when the retaining member is engaged by said plate, a spring-controlled striker means mounted for horizontal movement adjacent the primer and held in cocked position out of contact with the primer by the retaining member in a normal, upper position of the retaining member, and a detonator means mounted on the top wall of the casing in communication with the primer, removal of saidremovable securing means and downward swinging of the pivotable retaining plates causing concomitant downward movement of the retaining member whereby the aperture means therein permits propulsion of the striker means therethrough into contact with the primer, setting off the primer and initiating the detonator means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,479,861 Pass Aug. 23,1949 2,488,547 Liljegren Nov. 22, 1949 2,562,928 Lewis Aug. 7, 1951 2,678,604 Walker May 18, 1954 

